1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly, to routing in a mesh network.
2. Background
In wireless communication systems, access networks are generally employed to connect any number of access terminals to a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet or a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). These access networks are typically implemented with multiple wireless access points dispersed throughout a geographic region. Each of these access points provide a wired backhaul connection to a gateway for the WAN.
A mesh network differs from this tradition approach in that any number of access points may join together to connect access terminals to a gateway. The principle is similar to the way data is routed through the Internet. Basically, the data in the mesh network is routed from one access point to another until it reaches is destination. The throughput of the mesh network will depend on the routes established by the access points to forward data. Thus, it would be advantageous to be able to dynamically establish optimal routing through the mesh network
The selection of an optimal path through the mesh network is not a simple task. Changing wireless conditions and the availability of multiple paths through the mesh network presents various challenges. Also, the wireless links between access points do not have fixed data rates. As a result, the traditional approach of establishing the shortest path links between access points may not always be optimal if other arrangements can provide a higher data rate or reduce delay. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to optimize the routing of data through a mesh network to increase throughput.